Settlement of North Dumfries Township
North
Dumfries Township In 1816, when the area of Grand River
land known as Block One became part of the Gore District,
it was named Dumfries Township. In 1852 Dumfries was divided
into two halves: north and south. Only North Dumfries
was included as a township of Waterloo County along with
the townships of Waterloo, Wilmot, Wellesley, and Woolwich.
The
initial settlement of the township was slow. In 1818,
including 38 settlers of Shade’s Mills, only 63 people
resided in the township. From the 1820s onward the township’s
settlers were mainly Scottish but a small number of Pennsylvanian
Mennonite settlers from Waterloo Township also bought
land and settled in North Dumfries. By the 1830s, the
township had grown in size and was developing steadily.
In 1834 the population of the township had reached about
4, 177.
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